Do the Ingredients in Cheese Make It Better?

Do the Ingredients in Cheese Make It Better?


So you’re sitting there and you’re wondering—what’s in cheese? And you look on your label and see a whole bunch of spices and stuff that just makes you sit there and wonder—what is half of this?

First of all, there is the main ingredient, milk. Milk is a pretty fatty substance—so much in fact that you can create two batches of cheese if you use cow or sheep’s milk. However, the amount of milk depends on what type of cheese you are making and the like. For some, they may not be able to eat cheese that came from cows, but they can eat that which came from goats or even sheep, since it has smaller fat globules. However, as far as cheesemaking goes, we first place the milk into a large vat, and then heat it. Once it is heated, it then has an essential ingredient called rennet added to it.

The length of time the milk is separated into curds and whey affects the taste, as does the length of time that the cheese is aged. The kind made from cows is normally very creamy-tasting and it tastes like cow’s milk. The kind from goats is a bit tangy and smells a bit stronger than that from cows. It is something that takes getting used to. The same goes for that made from sheep’s milk.

Then there is molding. Molding is where mold starts to form throughout the cheese—this can be desirable in most cases and can also be edible. This isn’t the same as mold from leaving it sit in the fridge too long and it should look like that when it gets to you.

Colorings can also affect the taste. It depends on the coloring and if it contains any flavorings. There are also certain spices that are added for both flavor and color. One thing that you should remember is that most of the time the spices are just for colors. (Unfortunately, if cheese is not uniform, most people worry that there is something wrong with it—therefore, to make it more acceptable as far as looks go, they add a bit of coloring.)

Last, salt is an important factor. As far as salt goes, you need to remember that it helps to not only dry out the cheese and help it age, but it also has a bit of weight on how the cheese tastes.

There are loads of other things that can affect the taste, including the aging and the way the cheese was made. Keep this in mind when you purchase your next wheel!